1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is generally related to electrical power systems, and more specifically to power converter architectures suitable for rectifying, inverting and/or converting electrical power between power sources and loads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power converters are used to transform and/or condition power from one or more power sources to supply to one or more loads. An inverter is commonly used to transform direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), for use in supplying power to an AC load, for example, a three phase electric motor. A rectifier is commonly used to transform AC to DC. A DC/DC converter is commonly used to step up or step down a DC voltage. An appropriately configured and operated power converter may perform any one or more of these functions.
There are a large variety of applications requiring power transformation. For example, a DC power source such as a fuel cell system, battery and/or ultracapacitor may produce DC power, which must be inverted to supply power to an AC load such as an AC motor in an electric or hybrid vehicle. A photovoltaic array may produce DC power that must be inverted to supply or export AC power to a power grid of a utility. An AC power source such as a power grid or micro-turbine may need to be rectified to supply power to a DC load such as a tool, machine or appliance or the DC input of an inverter. A high voltage DC source may need to be stepped down to supply a low voltage load, or a low voltage DC source may need to be stepped up to supply a high voltage load. Other applications will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the teachings herein.
Many applications for power converters are cost and/or size sensitive. These applications will employ other alternatives if sufficiently inexpensive converters are not available in packages with a sufficiently small footprint. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the cost and footprint of power converters, without reducing the rated power.